Mrs. Morton immediately rang the bell and
prepared to precede the ladies to their chambers. Let them be as
insolent as they would she would do what she conceived to be her
duty. Then Lady Augustus stalked out of the room and her daughter
swum after her. "They don't seem to be quite the same as they were
in Washington," said the Senator.
John Morton got up and left the room without making any reply. He
was thoroughly unhappy. What was he to do for a week with such a
houseful of people? And then, what was he to do for all his life if
the presiding spirit of the house was to be such a one as this? She
was very beautiful--certainly. So he told himself; and yet as he
walked round the park he almost repented of what he had done. But
after twenty minutes fast walking he was able to convince himself
that all the fault on this occasion lay with the mother. Lady
Augustus had been fatigued with her journey and had therefore made
everybody near her miserable.
CHAPTER XIII
At Bragton
When the ladies went up-stairs the afternoon was not half over and
they did not dine till past seven. As Morton returned to the house
in the dusk he thought that perhaps Arabella might make some
attempt to throw herself in his way. She had often done so when
they were not engaged, and surely she might do so now.
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